Back in August of 1982, a long time friend and pal, Jerry Ostalecki, of Redford, Michigan just outside Detroit sent me an In Search of Mustangs post card with an interesting vehicle identification number - 4F07K250061. Jerry had found an August 1964 car with a misstamped vehicle identification number - what should have been 5F07K250061. Instead - 4F07K250061 with a 1964 model year code instead of a "5". It was an easy mistake for Dearborn plant people to make considering Dearborn had also been producing 1964 Fairlanes until mid-June when Fairlane production was dropped at Dearborn and added to Kansas City and San Jose.
When Jerry found 4F07K250061, he'd found a borderline car assembled in August of 1964. It is listed in the Mustang Production Guide as 5F07K250061 along with other August of 1964 units - most with "01H" and "03H" build date codes. And although these early '65 units have early August date codes, actual dates of assembly run more toward mid- and late-August based on stamping and casting date codes. Sad part is - this 289 Hi-Po "K" hardtop was too far gone to be restored and was scrapped.
When you find an odd-duck unit like this with numbers that don't add up, suspect a misstamp or warranty plates installed on wrong units. Because these cars were assembled and inspected by exhausted human beings, expect to see errors like this from time to time. And when you find them, we'd like to hear from you at www.mustangmonthly.com or Jim.Smart@sorc.com.